OldeLine Lanes and Kitchen, Lincoln City, OR, May 26, 2018

Bowling, pizza, beer, and great cookies. How can you go wrong? This unique new offering from the folks of Hearth & Table Kitchen opened in mid-May after a two-plus month closure. We used the occasion of a visit from our son to try it out.

Ric is not a fan of bowling, and although Derek and I had not bowled since the turn of the century, we thought to give it a go. We had a great time and terrible results: about what we each expected. The beer was stellar as OldeLine Lanes & KItchen features a fine selection of craft beers on a rotating basis.

Bowl a few lines then revive yourself with beer and excellent pizza.

The lanes are fine for family bowling but perhaps not up-to-par for league bowlers and an acceptable ball was difficult to locate; However, they are set up with gutter bumpers and ball guides so youngsters have a chance of actually knocking down a few pins.

After trying to dislocate my right arm for an hour (no success but some pains the next day), Ric joined us for dinner: more beer and the pizza we loved from Hearth & Table. (They moved their specialty pizza oven from the old location.)

The pizza is now only available in one size: enough for two but insufficient for three. Unfortunately, we did not realize the size problem until the pizza was delivered to our table. So we ate a rather light meal and followed it up with their excellent house-made cookies to-go.

We built a pizza from the choose-your-own ingredients: sausage, salami, and green pepper.

The offerings on the pizza menu are a bit gourmand for our tastes. Kale, feta, grapes, apples, and salt cod have no business on pizza. Luckily you can make your own, selecting from a small group of more traditional ingredients.

The pizza is still great, the atmosphere unique, the bowling a fun option, but the restaurant menu does nothing for me.

I would gladly stop by for a cookie, though.

Pizza Quality: 3 This is expensive pizza, but you get what you pay for. Fresh mozzarella, high-end meats, beautiful produce, and an excellent handmade crust.

Service: 2 Semi self-serve in that you order at the counter and they serve the table. They even tied our bowling games and refreshments to the dinner tab so we only paid once. But the servers were spread thin. Perhaps this is just shakedown as they had only been open about 10 days.

Ambiance: 2 The subdued environment of the old location has been replaced by the sounds of bowling. The lanes are separated from the dining space by a wall and corridor, so the sound is dampened but it carries. The dining space is linoleum with no baffling and the kitchen is open. It is lively when there are a lot of diners, which was the case this Saturday night. I do like the retro furnishings and accessories (think 1955-1965), but it does not invite lingering.

Ambiance ala 1960.

This was originally the D-Lake Bowl. Former owners left behind some posters of the era.

Hi Chloe. You have a good point! However, there are lovely places here where we do stay for dessert and coffee, especially when we have a guest along. But the 50s steel and vinyl chairs didn’t do it for us, with the background music of falling pins.

Your remark about the restaurant not inviting lingering made me think that perhaps it isn’t the restaurant that is at fault, but the fact that most Americans simply don’t spend time enjoying a congenial meal with each other. People in Europe spend a lot of time talking during and after a meal, no matter what the ambiance of the restaurant.